The Bombay High Court Monday suggested to the Maharashtra government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to set up public address systems to inform people of the situation during floods and other disasters. A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice G S Kulkarni was of the opinion that during floods, the public gets stuck at one place and people are not aware of what is the situation in other places.

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“There should be some public address systems across the city to inform people of what the situation is at different places in the city. This will help people to plan accordingly and not venture out,” it said.

The court observed that during floods and other disasters, the FM radio channels also continue playing songs instead of giving out information.

The bench was hearing a PIL filed by advocate Atal Bihari Dubey, seeking a second doppler radar system to be set up in the city and other measures to ensure people do not suffer due to floods during monsoon.

The court was informed by BMC and the state government that a site has been identified and sanctioned in suburban Goregaon to set up a doppler radar. It then noted that apart from doppler radars, several other steps should also be taken.

“Chennai has doppler systems and public announcements but still it witnessed floods…may be because of its geographical position. Even you (the Maharashtra government and BMC) should take necessary steps on how to handle floods and other disasters,” it said.

The bench said that authorities can take help of local news channels to send messages to public during such disasters. It asked the state government and BMC to consider these suggestions and inform the court on the next hearing about what steps they propose to take.